Electric signal for automobiles.



NUES.

E. LA

ELECTRIC SGNAL' FOB AUTGMGBLES,

APXLIOATIOH FILED NOV. 7, N12.

2 SHEETS-MEER L. E. LANDES.

I ELECTRIC SIGNAL POE AUTOMOBILES.

APPLIUATION FILEDNOV. 7, 1912. A'

A lggl, I t abentd Fab. 10, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2A f7 y f2 5 insonne.

fir/iti VIL 'il j "entren Lavis a; tennessee@ essaies, Contraente metier@ siena@ 'rea Autonomes `3pecifieetion of Letters r}ateiit.

Apvcation ed November 7, 13153. EeralNo. $305076.

` To all whom, t 'muy concern Be `it iltnown that I, Louis E. LANDES, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county oLos Angeles and State of California, have invented certain i new andl useful `linproveineirts in Electric Signals`l for" Automobiles; and I dodec-lere "the following-io be'a` full, clear, and enact description of the invention', such 'as Will enable others skilled inthe art to which itappertainsto make and use'tlie saine.

vThis inventionrelates tosignals, and more especially to those ordinarily ernijiloyed at the rear endot automobiles and the like to indicate to the automobilist following the -iirthe provision of means whereby an electric current may be employed at night for illuminating the number signal and lighting the tail lamp aswcllas'for illuminatingthe 'direction signal `when desired, end by the provision of ainanual switch mechanism the saine electric circuit may be einployedin the vday time for actuating an index to point to the direction signal; and the invention consists particularly in the detailed structure for carryingout this idea and in an iini proved forni of armature for moving the situated Within reach of the driver.

index to various positions-all .as` hereinafter more fully. described and claimed, and

as shoivn in the drawings wherein- Figure l is a rear `elevation of the signal complete, showing it as connected by a cable With the setting ymechanism whichl will be Fin 2 o' 1s an enlarged rear elevation of the signal.

, with 4its glass panels removed, and Figs, 3

and 1- are sections taken on substantially the lines'B-S and ts-110i Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an enlarged elevation *of the settingl mechanism,

and Fig. 6 a. vertical section through the same just under the base plate, this view also Yillustrating the Wiring. .Fig 7 is a vertical section through the settinginechanism siinilar to Fig. 6, without the Wiring' and eX- `ceptingg that the plate carrying the contacts has `here been moved to thefleft Whereas it Awas shown in Fig. Gas set to the right 4for a purpose to appear. Figs. 8 and 9 are sectionsteken on substantially the lines @+8 oi? Fig. 6; `and Fig. 9 a section taken substantially onfthe line 'i-9 oi. Fig. 8

lin the drawings l have conventionally illustrated the number hl and an abbreviation S indicating the State as marked in White, light, or transparent characters on an otherwise opaque ,class G secured within a 'traine F, so that the characters are lighted up or illuminated at night by the light l; i and i have also indicated the tail light 'l as being in circuit with the'illuininating light I and both connected up with a battery or some other source' of electricity E carried at a convenient point on the automobile. ln the day time it will obviously not he necessary to light the bulbsfof the illuminating and tail ligl'its, nor will it be desirable to illuminate the signals hereinafter referred to, and therefore l have devised mechanism for switching the current from the source whose energization controls vthe movements of an index'also located Within'the Casing of to point to oneof the Words of the move. nient signal toi-'nung part of the present inveiition.

Coming now more particularly to the details ot the present invention, the casing 1- niay Well be shaped to carry both the day and night signals, and the direction signal may` Well consist of the Words Lait, Stop, and Right painted on a clear .pane ot' sector shape which is secured Within a freine 8 and the latter in turn se cured over the rear tace of the casing in a manner which will be understood. These Words l would dispose around the arc of 'the sector as shown in Fig. l, each over e com# partincnt, and the various compartments verse curved partition 4t and tivo radial partitions foi'ining threeboxes or chambers, Within each of 4which is an electric buib standing respectively behind the Word con. stituting,` the signal; while the same 'pane 2 of glass may extend downward over the tail light T and the latter therefore shines through in the night time. 'By preference, however, I would have the "frame 3 covering this part of the mechanism distinct from the traine l which carries the number, et cetera, because in selling the device to the automobilist it is contemplated that he shell having` the proper nuinber N and State eb hreviation S, whereas it is not intended that he shall remove the traine o .and pene il unf intenten io, ieri.

ot electricityl through one oit' three magnetsv this sional and which ina therefore be made Within the casing are produced by a trans' remove the iainel? and insert a panel t?? iro 1 this shield is disposed in tion I will number the bulb and therefore panel indicating Stop,

. above the tail light unless the current is' switched through one or the other. of said as T and I to correspond with the trasting andl vivid colors, zo

-. .flowed vread would soon learn to read casing and f' Three electroanagnets coact f *the signals 7, 8 and 9 in Figs. 2 and 6, and

I will letter the other twobulbs in Fig. `6 tail and illuminating bulbs shown in Fig. 2.

I' might here throw out the suggestion that the glass panel 2 over the `'three Words around its arc could be painted in three conleaving the strokes of the several letters clear or White, as for instance red over the intermediate and blue over one of the other words and yellow over the remaining word; and if this system were folm any city and became enerally understood', a chaudeur who possi 1y could not Athe signals by their colors. However, this detailvneed not be illustrated or further amplified, as is isonly asuggestion.

With the above construction, at night when the electric circuit is switched onto the Wires leading to the various bulbs, the tail light T burns constantly, the illuminating.

light I also burns constantly behind the number4 plate, and the other three bulbs will not burn and therefore no word is displayed bulbs in a manner yet to be described. In the day time, however, it is not a'dvisable tov use a direction signal which must be illuminated, and I therefore prefer the following construction. Pivoted at 10 Within the casing 1 is an index 11 of a'size and shape. adapted to be 'completely concealed by the shield 6, and connecting the shank of this index with the pivot isa spring` 12 which is of sullcient strength to hold the iight index normally at the angle shown in Fig. 2 where it is/conccaled behind the shield as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 but which will permit said index to be moved in either direction when desired. The bracket 13 which carries the pivot pin 10 is secured to the back ot ihe carries a second pin 14 whereou is pivotally mounted an armature of peculiar shape which I employ in this connection. The same comprises a soft-metal plate 15 turned up at one edge as at 16, having an ear 17 at one end pivotedv on said pin 14,

andhaving an upsta'nding arm 18 at itsl other end connected pivotally by a short link 19 with the shank ot' the index 11'.

with this arma- 'the index to move yreach of the driver ture, two of them numbered 27 and 29 being secured within the casing below opposite edges of the plate 15,v and a third one numbered 28 being secured within the casing with its core standing just beyond the upturned Iedge 16 of the plate-all as best seen in Fig. 2. 1With the parts standing` as therein shown (when the index 1l Will be hidden behind the shield 6 as understood) if the current be sent through the magnet 27 the armature Will be tilted on its pivot so that its larm 18 will draw on the; link 19 and the index will be moved to the left and over the word Leftf butif energizedthe plate 15 will be tilted 'in the opposite direction and the link 'will cause' to the extreme right over the word Right. If, however, neither of these magnets is energized, but` the current ,1s switched through` the magnet 28, the up of the plate 15 Will be atturned edge 16 traeted so that the plate will be 'turned to about a horizontal position and its arm 18 will extendstraight upward, with the result that the link 19 will swing the index s0 that it will point to the word Stop. In anycase, as soon as the current is cut oil",

the magnet 29 be the spring 12 restores the index to the position shown in this view when it is again hidden behind the shield 6; and,if the index is paintedwhite or perhaps enameled in white as I would. prefer, and the face of the shield is ainted black, the automobilist following beliind this 'signal sees nothing but the three words exposed in the daylight o'r 'at dusk but is instantly attracted whenv 'a White index appears in sight and points to oneof them.' 'At night of course he would see none of `these Words so long as the lamps 7, 8 and 9 are, not lighted.

An important feature of my invention consists in the specific construction of the setting mechanism which will be mounted on the dash board or somewhere within easy of, the automobile, and its details of construction are well illustrated in the drawingson. Sheet,2. The casing 30 contains a three-fingered plate 31 connected through a wire 26 With the battery E, and its ngers carry buttons 32, 33 and 34, projecting through the face plate of the casing respectively 'opposite the words Left, Stop, and Right, which are inscribed thereon as shown in. Fig. -5. Beneath and out of contact with said plate the casing also contains a slidable member, preferably comprising aninsulated strip 35 having slots'36 moving` over headed pins or screws 37, and the strip also carries a knob 38 projecting through a slot 39 in the faccplate of the casing between the Words Day .and Night so as to indicate in what position the stip is moved to either extreme' ofthe slot 39. Said strip 35 carries rather wide contactis set when the knob A end oi'. L it ieetie and 49 with the Kamps T, 8 and 9 es seen in the diagrammatic View, Fig. @i3 when the pitite 35 and its tongues are moved to tiie iet't es; indicoteci 1n. Fig. Z'wthe tips et `seid tongues make ieepeotive Contact with the peinte of thiee other binding posts 51, 52; and 53, with which are I'eepeetiveiy 'conneeteti iiionh wires 21, 22 and Q3 leading respective-ty to the ghetto-magnets 27, 25 and @Si 'ieyom' which a. Common return Wire 2li ieade through the wisse 25 beek to the battery E. The return witte of the iam? circuit is indioeteci et leading beek to 'the Wire 25 tence to the battery E, but this return Wire 5% also serve-e as the 'return Wire from the titii iomp 'i and the ilumiiieting iam@ il iiot' the pizrpofie ot iigiiting the hissirmtmeti isti/np, the plete 3i eerziee a cte.- pending spying tongue 55 et one extxemity and. the stiip 35 ceri'ies it spring tongue 56 adopted to move limiter :moi make eieetiicai Contact with seid tongue 55 when, the strip is moved to the right es eeen iii Fig. 6. @if i'eetij] 'benfwth the Spying tongue 55 out out of coe ziet therewith is e point et the inner i iing post 57) tem which a wire oiigh the tziii iight. T :md the ce iuoiinef'nm iight it tutti is con the. coimiiion iettmi Wiee .fiiiect iiitii this ooiietmietioii :i

t uit when the etiip mit eii its moved, to the right tot 'use oi ti the night, the spiiiig tongue between the Spring tongue anni f point at the moet enti of the euri closes :t circuit through Y te miti iieiiee t" il .etes the cir ie battery through the ttii emi iiim'niiiat' gilt L and imei; ii e iii-ii 25 to the battere, uit that there tights 'num coet- 'iriver Wmits to .indicate iiee the button iioegggii the inter'- .tiiug post et? e diete lamp that ite emi o i .i metiiote tong-oe iti, the 'wife 47.8? the i mi the wot i fait zit is einem ii top, and, the oomboeit to the battery; sind if the omit-i tiesil'e to lmiieatetiiet he Wiii imi i; :E mon t push ie piopoi' button to dispiej; the proper signet tin reet oi? the automobile the deyiin'ae Ytim/ete?Aq the imoo moved to the ,left tile eiot 39 anti this Genies the mtiousioiigueo te the poeitioii siown in Wire i'imoit to the imtteiy; and

Fig. 7. Assuming Jnow that the (iriver Wishes to indicate that he imposes to tutti to the left, he pusiiee the lett han@ button $35 which compieies :i circuit from the battery through the tongueeii), bieding' poet branch wire magnet i mi 2T., and common the ciei gization 05:' the magnet 2?' tilts the armati on its pivot ifi.; :mei thiough the inei'muiviia tiziity of the iini turns the index il to the left se thet ite tip pointe to the woifei Lett, in ai like if'Jmnei he eeuiti iueiieete that .he will tutti to the iit oi pzoposei: stop, by simply pushing; the propel button`I` Thus it Wiii be :o that this ii'ipoved eutoniobiie signal "i i in duytimooi nighttime, 'by the piopei adjustment ot the knob 35.) that when. adjusted tot' the night time the seme circuit lights up the teil lamp emi illuminates the number (eitiiougii course these. tentures eouiti ioe omitted if fiesired), mici that when nee-:i im. the my time no electricity iowe tiii'ough the device except when the driver' te .ineke 'use ot' his d iectioe, signi-ii. ifoi'eovei', the ciiree tion ie indicated. et nioht by en iiim'riineted 'worci it is indicated 111 the day -time by e white hand moving' out from under it fiori; shield eo as to come into eight of those who foiiow, and the shift tem, one syetem to the other is mede by the hiver Without leaving; his seat md simply by pushing the knob 3i in the proper direction.. it is quite possible that the entite iigiitiiig.; System oi the auto-- mobiie could. he put into eitcuit with the tail ih x temp Zi", shown in F t3, so that movement of tite knob .5:3 to the fight Wou'ici iight up tile eti fliiotiiie ec'- iew i'equiiee and, its move to the e't'wouiti extinguish eil iig" oi; the maeiiitee,

Jiiizf: is eiaiimeti te new is:

A. Circuit cioe-ei for eigiiei eye-items com pyieiiig easing, e tixe thee-siti and having tioee tiegeie.J titi-ee butto-ne whereof each has ite shank oomieete. i otietingei and ite iieati eteiitiiii on extei-ioi oit missing, two eeiiee of "Joints 'to seid caeiiP-.g emi bete arming-eti in jeoire f embers ot 'which are edjeeeit eeeii ether emit peil eomprieiiig one @dit :from emi, emi seid :peinte oeiii' in: .remet iitiee5 tine met enti: i ton-emula' stanotte@ iti-"Jove tif splice "w e peil' oif seid points an insuiat mounted@ Within eei Casing emi e; means on its eitterioi whereby it muy 'be Siici to either@ eXti-eme position, omi three @me tact tongues ceieieei by the ettpi each hem img it Wide 'booty beneath the nel. end of e., button-'Shoah in either position, ci' the eti-ip end :i imicow tip in contact with one oit said pointe, the Whole eating subetentieiiy described,

'.ifhe combination with two eelies site points having their respective members standing adjacent each other, and a series of spending points of the different series side by side, a plate Within 'the casin` having spring` lingers whereof each stands above a pair vofthe points, and a manually slidable membffj" having tongues standing respectively beneath said fingers and adapted to 1be set above the points of either series, for

the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of\two subscribing' 'witnesses LOUIS E. LANDES.

lVitnesses CLARA E. LANDES, JAMES D. MORGAN. 

